Touring - How long before you ride again after tour?

Whenever I return from a bike tour, I find that it is hard for me to get back on the bike for my usual local rides. It often takes me a week or two to ride my bike again. Does anyone else do this?

Ray

It depends... if I have to use my bike for transport, I have no option.

But the generally expressed answer is: Listen to your body. If you have just finished a fairly hefty tour, the chances are you need to recover a little.

That night, or perhaps the next morning if its late.

I commute by bike and don't get enough holidays so it it is usually the next morning.

That night, or perhaps the next morning if its late.

+1

I rode 20 miles on Saturday to the pickup point for our rental car to return the 375 miles of our tour. I was at the Show & Go the next morning.

I got back from a tour about three weeks ago and I still haven't gone on a recreational ride yet. But I commute to work by bike everyday.

After my crosscountry I took three days off, rode once and then did not ride for nearly a month. I did other stuff like play tennis every day which I had missed on the tour.

2 or 3 days--after that I get really restless and have to ride at least around the block.

I must admit I can understand the lack of motivation, but you shouldn't miss out on the opportunity to be superman for a few weeks. There's nothing better (particularly if you are in an event) to feel the power you have when you drop the panniers off, but sadly it fades away in a matter of weeks which is your body's way of telling you it's time for another tour....

I must admit I can understand the lack of motivation, but you shouldn't miss out on the opportunity to be superman for a few weeks. There's nothing better (particularly if you are in an event) to feel the power you have when you drop the panniers off, but sadly it fades away in a matter of weeks which is your body's way of telling you it's time for another tour....
I'm the opposite. After a long tour (21 days up), I get accustomed to grinding out miles, and lack the sprinting spirit needed for road bike ride. After getting left behind 3-4 times on a group ride, I will give up cycling for about 3 weeks to lick my wounds. Then I train alone five days a week, and ride with group on Saturday and Sunday to slowly bring myself back to pace with my friends.

Whenever I return from a bike tour, I find that it is hard for me to get back on the bike for my usual local rides. It often takes me a week or two to ride my bike again. Does anyone else do this?


I'm a transportational cyclist, so the bike is usually out Monday morning. After a tour earlier this year, I was riding to work a matter of seven hours after getting home. To be honest I don't really have a problem with motivation immediately after a tour either, quite the opposite in fact. Unfortunately, the gradually fades as I get back into the grind of day to day life. My biggest motivational problems tend to come after a period of time off the bike.

Whenever I return from a bike tour, I find that it is hard for me to get back on the bike for my usual local rides. It often takes me a week or two to ride my bike again. Does anyone else do this?

Ray

It seems I'm in your camp. After returning home from my 11-week tour in 2005, I didn't ride my bike for about a week or so. This departure had nothing to do with me feeling sore or overly tired, as I was neither. It was more of a sense of getting reacclimated to my "normal" life, and needing a break from the many dozens of hours of cycling. Then, I was ready for more cycling, and did a 300 mile tour a few months later.